Credit cards versus stablecoins is one of the less-discussed competitive battles ahead, but it’s one where traditional finance faces the most coherent threat. The constant-dollar-value crypto tokens offer a route to cheap, fast payments — and in the US, that could make a real difference to consumers and retailers who still pay unusually high fees for card transactions compared with Europe.
There are good profits in these frictional costs to card payments for US banks. As Jeff Bezos once said: “Your margin is my opportunity.”
